Department for Transport

Roads: Noise

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2020 to Question 98205 on roads: noise, when his Department plans to publish the results of the initial trials of a prototype acoustic camera.

Rachel Maclean: Due to the pressures on the Department arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the necessity to temporarily redeploy staff, consideration of the research on the initial trials of a prototype acoustic camera has been re-phased.The Government anticipates the results will be published in the summer.

Department for Education

Secondary Education: Religion

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the most recently published School Workforce Census, how many schools with an outstanding Ofsted rating reported zero hours of religious education teaching in year 11; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: In November 2019, 2,958 state funded secondary schools returned full curriculum information to the Department via the School Workforce Census. This represents 86% of all state funded secondary schools in England.Of these 2,958 schools, 984 reported no teaching of religious education (RE) or philosophy teaching to Year 11 pupils during the week of the workforce census. One school reported teaching RE or philosophy in mixed year groups, which may include Year 11 pupils.Of the 984 schools, 144 were judged outstanding in their last Ofsted full inspection. The last full inspection may have been several years prior to 2019. It is therefore not possible to draw any meaningful correlation between information about teaching time on these subjects during the census week and a school’s Ofsted rating.The information above is based on the number of hours of dedicated RE or philosophy teaching recorded by each school for Year 11 pupils. It is possible that other general teaching within the school may include elements of RE, ethics, or philosophy.State funded schools in England have a duty to teach RE to all pupils aged 5 to 18 years. While academies, free schools and most maintained schools designated as having a religious character may design and follow their own curriculum, all other maintained schools must follow their area’s locally agreed syllabus for RE.Any concerns that a school may not be complying with the requirement to teach RE should, in the first instance, be raised via the school’s complaints procedure. If the complaint is not resolved, then the issue can be escalated to the Department’s School Complaints Unit.

Children's Centres and Family Hubs

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children aged five and under accessed programmes through children’s centres and family hubs in each English local authority area in the last 12 months.

Vicky Ford: The department does not routinely collect data on the number of children who are accessing programmes through children’s centres or family hubs. This data is held at a local level.Local authorities have statutory duties under Part 1 of the Childcare Act 2006 to facilitate access to early childhood services and encourage parents to take advantage of them. The act, and the duties, are available to view here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/21/part/1.Local authorities should be reviewing data on service use and outcomes to ensure that they are meeting these duties and that their commissioning decisions are informed by evidence of the impact of their local services.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Research: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that investment in research is linked to economic growth.

Amanda Solloway: The Government is investing £14.9 billion in research and development in 2021/22. This puts UK Government Research & Development (R&D) spending at its highest level in four decades. We are continuing to take forward commitments from last year’s R&D Roadmap, which set out our vision to ensure the UK is the best place in the world for scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to live and work, while helping to power the UK’s economic and social recovery and level up the UK. The R&D Places Strategy, due to be published later this year, will ensure that R&D benefits the economy and society in nations, regions and local areas across the UK contributing to the Government’s wider levelling-up ambitions. As announced in the Plan for Growth at Budget 2021, we will also publish a new Innovation Strategy in the Summer. Building on the R&D Roadmap, the strategy will identify how we can enhance innovation even further working closely with business.

Research: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what tools his Department uses to calculate to effect of investment in research funding on economic growth in the UK.

Amanda Solloway: The Department requires a business case be prepared for funding proposals to assess value for money and subsequently monitors and evaluates programmes to understand their impact including any impact on jobs and productivity where possible. The Department also commissions studies to assess the impact of research funding. For example, macroeconomic modelling of the 2.4% target by Cambridge Econometrics for BEIS suggested that there would be increases in GDP, employment, and productivity from increased R&D. It is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-and-development-macroeconomic-modelling-of-24-target Other research conducted shows that public investment in R&D achieves high social rates of return, with £1 of public investment in R&D eventually leveraging around £2 of additional private sector investment. Reports are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/science-and-innovation-rates-of-return-to-investmenthttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-and-development-relationship-between-public-and-private-funding

Research: Career Development

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to support early career researchers in the R&D People Strategy.

Amanda Solloway: The R&D People and Culture Strategy, due to be published in Summer 2021, will look to ensure the UK has the people we need at all levels, working in a culture that gets the best out of everyone and delivers the best outcomes for the country. The Strategy will set out the actions that the R&D sector, including government, funders, employers and individuals will need to take to help achieve this ambition. It will also look to ensure we value all the roles that people play in our R&D system, ensuring capacity and capability across academia and industry.

Retail Trade: Measurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to allow packaged and loose goods to be displayed in imperial measurements only.

Paul Scully: The Government recognises that some people have a preference to use imperial units in their day to day lives. At the same time, it recognises that many others are not familiar with imperial units and that the use of metric is a necessity for British businesses to compete in markets around the world. Therefore, the UK system allows for information to be provided in imperial units alongside metric. While the majority of trade in the UK is conducted using metric units to ensure consistency in commerce and science, there are already some limited exemptions that allow for certain traditional imperial measures to be used, without metric alongside, for specific uses. Now we have left the EU we will consider whether further limited exemptions can be applied for other traditional uses.

Members: Correspondence

Robert Largan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to respond to the letter of 17 December 2020 from the hon. Member for High Peak, reference RL16182.

Amanda Solloway: I confirm that the Department received my hon Friend’s correspondence on 17th December (reference RL16182). A response was issued on 7th January, signed by my noble Friend, Lord Callanan. A copy of the response has been reissued.

Northern Ireland Office

Question

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to scrutinise the effects of the UK's withdrawal from the EU on Northern Ireland.

Mr Robin Walker: The agreement reached with the EU gives us full control over our own laws, courts, borders and seas. It will help unlock investment and protect jobs right across the UK, giving us fantastic opportunities as an independent trading nation, striking trade deals with other partners around the world. The Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol is a unique, and delicately balanced, solution to a unique and sensitive set of problems. It aims to uphold the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in all its aspects; safeguard Northern Ireland’s integral place in the United Kingdom, its customs territory and internal market, while preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland. It is clear over the months that the Protocol has been in force that there have been issues having a direct, and often disproportionate, impact. It is critical that these issues can be addressed in order to protect the political, social and economic fabric of life in Northern Ireland and to restore confidence on the ground. It is our priority to move discussions with the EU forward and to ensure the Protocol is given effect in the pragmatic and proportionate way intended. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I have met, and will continue to meet, with business and community representatives to listen to their experiences, to understand what the data tells us about impacts under the Protocol and to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to addressing issues with the Protocol. We will continue to work closely with all sectors of opinion in Northern Ireland as talks with the EU Commission continue.

Department of Health and Social Care

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for women experiencing mental ill health to be admitted to a community-based mother and baby unit (a) during or (b) in the year following their pregnancy.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The information requested is not held centrally as there is no defined access and waiting times standard for these services.

Eating Disorders

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the increase over the last 10 years in the number of people with eating disorders.

Ms Nadine Dorries: In 2016, we set up the first waiting time standard for children and young people eating disorder services so that 95% of children with an eating disorder will receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, extra funding is going into children and young people's community eating disorder services every year, with £53 million per year from 2021/22. This extra funding will enhance the development of more than 70 new or improved community eating disorder teams covering the whole of the country.For adults, we will invest an extra £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness, such as eating disorders, by 2023/24. In addition, we announced that in 2021/22 the NHS will receive an additional £500 million, which will support people with a variety of mental health conditions, including eating disorders. Of this, £79 million will be used to significantly expand children’s mental health services, including allowing 2,000 more children and young people to access eating disorder services and £58 million to bring forward the expansion of integrated primary and secondary care for adults with severe mental illness, including eating disorders.NHS England has also announced additional early intervention services for young people aged 16 to 25 years old with eating disorders in 18 areas across the country, so young adults seeking support could be contacted within 48 hours and begin treatment within two weeks.

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that funding allocated to CCGs for eating disorder services for children and young people are ringfenced.

Ms Nadine Dorries: While funding provided for eating disorder services is not ringfenced, NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to work with mental health leads from local systems, Health Education England and other partners across the health system to support local services and help ensure the funding flows to these services as intended.

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consistency in the quality and funding of eating disorders services in different areas of the country in the context of devolution to CCGs.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The funding and provision of health services, including eating disorder services, are the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups and they have the flexibility to allocate funding according to local need. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with partners across the health system to support local services and help ensure the funding flows to these services as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan. NHS England and NHS Improvement will review system plans against expected trajectories, seek assurance on any major divergences and establish recovery plans where needed.

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional funding has been provided for NHS eating disorders services to support schemes aimed to reduce increased inpatient admissions throughout the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Since 2016, extra funding has been provided for children and young people's community eating disorder services, with £41 million in 2019/20 and £53 million in 2021/22. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with partners across the health system to support local services and help ensure the funding flows to these services as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan.During COVID-19, NHS England and NHS Improvement advised all areas to continue prioritisation of service delivery and mitigate the potential impact of COVID-19 on this vulnerable group. We announced that in 2021/22 the National Health Service will receive an additional £500 million, which will support people with a variety of mental health conditions, including eating disorders.   Of this extra funding £79 million will be used to significantly expand children’s mental health services, including allowing 2,000 more children and young people to access eating disorder services and £58 million to bring forward the expansion of integrated primary and secondary care for adults with severe mental illness, including eating disorders. In addition, NHS England announced additional early intervention services for young people aged 16 to 25 years old with eating disorders in 18 areas across the country.

Radiology

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the number of (a) clinical radiology trainees and (b) vacant clinical radiology consultant posts in hospitals.

Helen Whately: We have made no such assessment.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nepal: Coronavirus

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what practical assistance his Department  is providing to the Government of Nepal in tackling the covid-19 pandemic.

Nigel Adams: On Friday 28 May, a plane carrying the UK's donation of 260 ventilators and 2,000 visors arrived in Nepal, in response to an urgent request for medical supplies from the Government of Nepal. Moreover, since the beginning of the pandemic, British Embassy Kathmandu has helped Nepal respond to COVID-19 by reprioritising over £40 million of its aid budget. This support has included the construction of an oxygen plant in a Kathmandu hospital; technical advice to local government on managing the impact of COVID-19; water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to support around 300,000 people; safe spaces for women in isolation centres; cash and voucher assistance for the most vulnerable; and nutrition support for pregnant and lactating women. The UK is also a leading donor to COVAX, having committed £548 million to the scheme. COVAX has allocated 2,000,000 vaccine doses to Nepal, of which 348,000 have already been delivered. We are working closely with international partners to support the people of Nepal at this difficult time.

China: Religious Freedom

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Chinese Government on the state of the human right to freedom of religion or belief in China.

Nigel Adams: We are deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in China, including the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners. The Foreign Secretary has personally raised our serious concerns with his Chinese counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on a number of occasions, most recently on 27 May. The Foreign Secretary also expressed the UK's deep concern at the treatment of Uyghur Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities at the UN Human Rights Council on 22 February.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter from the Hon. Member for West Lancashire of 17 March 2021 on foreign aid in India, reference ZA55927. .

Nigel Adams: A response to this letter is currently being expedited and will be sent out shortly.

Sri Lanka: Coronavirus

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what practical assistance his Department  is providing to the Government of Sri Lanka in tackling the covid-19 pandemic.

Nigel Adams: The UK Government is concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 infections in Sri Lanka, and is in regular contact with the Government of Sri Lanka and the World Health Organisation's (WHO) representatives in Sri Lanka. The UK does not have a bilateral aid programme in Sri Lanka but through our support to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other international bodies, UK aid is supporting Sri Lanka in tackling COVID-19. In addition to our average annual contribution of £120 million to assist the WHO, including in its role to provide technical guidance and operational support in maintaining essential health services, we recently announced a further £340 million (2020-24) in new core contributions. This is a significant uplift in support towards its vital work on public health. On global access to vaccines, the UK has already committed £548 million to the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment that specifically supports vaccines access for at least 500 million people in up to 92 low and middle income countries in 2021, including Sri Lanka, with our overall support to COVAX reaching over 120 countries and economiesFinally, to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable and conflict affected communities, we have adapted our Conflict, Security and Stability Fund work in Sri Lanka for 2020/2021, including ongoing work to respond to rising sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), and tackling disinformation that targets minorities.

Afghanistan: Coronavirus

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what practical assistance his Department  is providing to the Government of Afghanistan in tackling the covid-19 pandemic.

Nigel Adams: The UK is firmly committed to Afghanistan and we are supporting efforts to combat the pandemic in Afghanistan through our contributions to COVAX, the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) and through our humanitarian assistance. As one of the largest contributors to COVAX, UK support has helped to secure 468,000 initial doses of SII-AstraZeneca (COVISHIELD) vaccine. Through the ARTF the UK has also provided over £65 million to support the government's COVID-19 plan. In the year 2020-21, the UK allocated over £55 million to meet urgent humanitarian needs including those arising from COVID-19.

Ministry of Justice

Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure that any proposed reforms to the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, will apply equally to (a) same-sex marriages, (b) heterosexual marriages and (c) civil partnerships.

Chris Philp: The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 received Royal Assent on 25 June 2020 and the Government is working to implement its provisions. When implemented, the Act will deliver important reforms to minimise the potential for conflict in the legal process for obtaining a divorce, dissolving a civil partnership or obtaining a separation order.

Probation: Females

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding was allocated to the (a) women’s services lot and (b) accommodation services lot in the Dynamic Purchasing Framework for probation services.

Alex Chalk: A total of around £54 million has been allocated to women’s services to address their specific needs and the underlying causes of their crimes as part of the Government’s pledge to see fewer women go to prison. Contracts worth over £45 million have already been awarded with women’s services procured at Police and Crime Commissioner level in 10 of the 12 probation regions. This significant investment provides long-term support to women’s centres and other dedicated services for women serving community sentences or leaving prison. A total of around £41 million has been allocated to accommodation services with over £33 million allocated in 11 of the 12 probation regions. These have been awarded at a regional level except in Wales where they have been procured at Police and Crime Commissioner level. For the first time, the Probation Service is jointly commissioning the full range of rehabilitative services in Greater Manchester with the region’s Combined Authority from July 2021. In London, women’s services will be commissioned jointly with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) by providing funding to MOPAC’s existing providers for an extension and expansion of the current service. A new commissioning process will be undertaken for services from 2022.

Prison Sentences: Females

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time spent in prison by women has been since March 2020.

Alex Chalk: The table below shows for each quarter the average (mean) number of months, women who were released in that quarter, served in prison including on remand. QuarterJan-March 2020April-June 2020July-September 2020October-December 2020Mean time served including remand in months6.68.39.18.1 Source: Prison releases October to December 2020, Table 3.2i. The Female Offender Strategy (2018) committed to working towards fewer women serving short custodial sentences with a greater proportion managed successfully in the community. Our Strategy commitment to pilot residential women’s centres, with the first to be located in south Wales, is a key part of this work. We are piloting a Problem-Solving Court approach in up to five locations for certain community and suspended sentence orders. The aim of this is to support offenders who could be both prolific and vulnerable to complete their sentences in the community. Female offenders will be one area of focus given the high proportion who receive short prison sentences, building on the promising outcomes of Manchester’s women’s Problem-Solving Court.

Prison Accommodation: Females

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which women’s prisons provide facilities for women and their children to spend time together overnight.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) women and (b) children can access overnight accommodation in HMP (i) Drake Hall, (ii) Styal and (iii) Askham Grange.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions facilities enabling women and their children to spend time together overnight at (a) HMP Drake Hall, (b) HMP Styal and (c) HMP Askham Grange operated at full capacity in (i) 2018, (ii) 2019 and (iii) 2020.

Alex Chalk: There are six Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) across the women’s prison estate located at HMP Askham Grange, HMP Bronzefield, HMP Eastwood Park, HMP New Hall, HMP Peterborough and HMP Styal. MBUs are a national resource and enable mothers to maintain a bond with their children during an important period in their development and aim to reduce the negative impact imprisonment can have on young children, if evidence suggests it is in their best interests to remain with their mother. The MBU also allows for children from the community to come and join their mothers in an MBU up to the age of 18 months. The environment is safe and nurturing for children, with development opportunities you would see in other nurseries, including toys and trips into the community. There is a national capacity of 64 mothers and 70 babies (to allow for multiple births). The national capacity has not been exceeded. In addition to the existing MBUs, HMP Drake Hall and HMP Askham Grange offer overnight facilities that enable mothers and their children to spend time together. These facilities are available to all children up to the age of 18 years old. There is no additional overnight accommodation available at HMP Styal however, HMP Eastwood Park have enhanced the use of their MBU to provide an opportunity for risk assessed women to spend an overnight stay with one child, up to 12 years of age in the specifically arranged family room. In regard to capacity, the HMP Askham Grange unit has five double bedrooms to accommodate large families, however only one mother can use the facility at one time. Although information is not held in the time periods requested, the facility was used 144 times in 2018-19 and 98 times in 2019-20. HMP Drake Hall has two separate units that can accommodate one mother, up to three children aged toddler to 18 years of age, and one baby in a travel cot. For larger families, the two suites can be combined to provide facilities for up to 6 children, which is assessed on a case by case basis. Full information relating to the number of occasions this facility was used is not held however, the suite has not been used during 2020 due to COVID restrictions.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Property Development: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many jobs Network Rail and Homes England estimate have been (a) lost and (b) displaced within the York Central Development Outline Planning redline area since March 2019; and of those how many are rail jobs.

Christopher Pincher: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not hold this information. However, the Ministry’s position is that development and regeneration are good for local economies, and are therefore likely to boost job numbers in the area.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Correspondence

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to his Department received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.

Eddie Hughes: The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.

Freehold

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to make it easier and cheaper for existing leaseholders to extend to 999 years or purchase the freehold.

Eddie Hughes: Under the current system, too many leaseholders find the process for extending their lease or buying their freehold (a process known as enfranchisement) too complex, lacking transparency and prohibitively expensive.Through our reforms, the length of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats) and 50 years (for houses). Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero ground rent on payment of a premium.We will also reform the process of enfranchisement valuation that leaseholders must follow to calculate the cost of extending their lease or buying their freehold. The Government will abolish marriage value, cap the treatment of ground rents at 0.1% of the freehold value, and prescribe rates for the calculations at market value. The Government will also introduce an online calculator, further simplifying the process for leaseholders and ensuring standardisation and fairness for all those looking to enfranchise. These changes to the enfranchisement valuation process will result in substantial savings for some leaseholders, particularly those with less than 80 years left on their lease.Our leasehold reform measures will be translated into law as soon as possible, starting with the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rents) Bill, which was introduced into Parliament on 12 May. This Bill will be the first part of major two-part legislation to implement leasehold and commonhold reforms in this Parliament.

Domestic Abuse: Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of a lack of both social housing and available refuge spaces on a domestic abuse survivors’ ability to move-on into secure and affordable housing and rebuild their lives.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and is investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which will leverage up to £38 billion of private finance and provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow.Many local areas already provide safe accommodation, including refuge services that ensure victims have somewhere safe to go. To support these services further we have introduced a new statutory duty on local authorities within the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to ensure that all victims, including children, have access to safety and support within safe accommodation when they need it.In 2018, the Government published statutory guidance to assist local authorities ensure that victims of domestic abuse are able to move into social housing from a refuge or other form of temporary accommodation, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-access-to-social-housing-for-victims-of-domestic-abuse.

Parking: Private Sector

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to encourage private companies that levy car parking charges to introduce clearer signage for the public on the charges and potential consequences of parking in private car parks.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the practice of car parking companies (a) sending letters threatening legal action and (b) passing details to debt collection agencies in cases of unpaid parking charges.

Luke Hall: My department is leading on the implementation of the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, which includes creation of an independent Code of Practice for private parking companies to improve standards.MHCLG is developing the Code of Practice through the British Standards Institution (BSI) in close consultation with key stakeholders, including landowners, consumer organisations, and the private parking industry, who are advising on its impact. The draft Code, which is available online at https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2020-00193 and on which the BSI recently publicly consulted, includes a requirement for a clear signage, surface markings, and clear and accessible displays of terms and conditions, as well as appropriate terminology used in operator notices or by debt recovery agents.In parallel to the BSI consultation on the Code, my department consulted on the Parking Code of Practice Enforcement Framework and on 20 March 2021 published the response to the consultation, available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/parking-code-enforcement-frameworkThe consultation response announced our intention to develop a series of fairer parking measures which will benefit motorists and encourage people to return to high streets and town centres. This includes the creation of a single independent appeals service for motorists to turn to if they receive a private parking charge and an Appeals Charter, which will protect motorists from charges that are unfair or issued in error.

Levelling Up Fund: Historic Buildings

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of how bids to the Levelling Up Fund from sites that are in the ownership of Historic England can be supported.

Luke Hall: As the Levelling Up Fund Prospectus recognises, investment in culture and heritage assets can play a crucial role in rejuvenating places, leading to positive economic and social outcomes.The Levelling Up Fund Technical Guidance sets out an assessment framework that will be used to assess all applications, including those that fall within the culture and heritage theme, to inform the shortlisting of bids. Further details can be found on Gov.UK.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 56 of the Government's Defence Command Paper, where the £2 billion allocated by his Department to the Future Combat Air System will be spent.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the engine for Tempest will be built.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the wing for Tempest will be built.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the fuselage for Tempest will be built.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement of a £2 billion investment by his Department in the Future Combat Air System, how many jobs that investment will support over the next (a) five years and (b) decade.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which components of Tempest will be built in (a) Sweden and (b) Italy.

Jeremy Quin: The 3-year Concept & Assessment phase will commence in 2021 with a full business case commitment by 2028 that will include details of applicable production arrangements. The Concept & Assessment phase is vital to the FCAS Programme, as we conduct the work needed to narrow down options and provide supporting evidence. The Programme aims to deliver an Initial Operating Capability by the mid-2030s. It is too early to say where work will be undertaken, but industrial partners estimate that over 1,800 new STEM jobs have been created in over 300 companies nationwide, sustaining and supporting a sector which employs tens of thousands of workers across the UK. Tempest will exploit our industrial base to create a next generation combat air enterprise. The early preparatory work of the FCAS Technology Initiative and Team Tempest had an aspiration to secure employment for 1,800 people directly supporting the programme. Based on information from our industrial partners we believe that estimate has been exceeded, with over 2,000 people now engaged in Tempest enterprise activities alone. In December 2020 the UK, Italy and Sweden signed the FCAS trilateral MOU. This enabling MOU signals the start of a long-term partnership that will allow us to begin the critical trilateral R&D work as part of the FCAS Concept and Assessment phase in 2021. It is too early to say where specific components of Tempest will be built.

Spaceflight: Scotland

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with counterparts in the Scottish Government on the military-commercial uses of future spaceports in Scotland.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence works with the UK Space Agency (UKSA) to support the delivery of commercial UK launch. Defence Ministers have not had any contact with Scottish Government counterparts on this subject. Any engagement on UK spaceports with the Scottish Government would currently be conducted through the UKSA-led programme.

Department for Work and Pensions

Chemicals: Regulation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the Health and Safety Executive’s (a) capacity and (b) level of expertise to regulate chemical safety.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Health and Safety Executive employees worked on chemicals regulation in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018, (d) 2019, (e) 2020 and (f) May 2021.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety Executive’s Chemicals Regulation Division (CRD) regulates the supply and conditions for subsequent use of chemicals in Great Britain to ensure both environmental and human health protections are provided.In preparing for the UK’s exit from the EU HSE assessed the resources required to continue to regulate chemicals supply onto the market following EU exit. This assessment identified the need for CRD to recruit additional staff and expertise for 1 January 2021. Further recruitment is planned during 2021/22 workyear and beyond.The number of Health and Safety Executive employees working in CRD regulating the supply and use of chemicals are:   YearFull time equivalents (FTE)  at 1 January each year 2016227201728020182582019266202024420213111st May 2021312

Health and Safety Executive: Staff

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff the Health and Safety Executive employed in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018, (d) 2019, (e) 2020 and (g) May 2021.

Mims Davies: The table below shows how many staff the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) employed in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018, (d) 2019, (e) 2020 and (g) May 2021:All Staff (FTE) 16/1717/1818/1919/2020/21End of Apr-21HSE Staff251724662408234324322443Contingent Labour7121828161227Total252424782426237125932670 Notes:Figures for (g) May 2021 are not available until month-end so figures for April 2021 have been provided.2020/21 figures are as reported in draft Annual Report and Accounts for 2020/21 due to be published in July 2021.Contingent labour is defined as temporary staff not on HSE’s payroll which may include agency workers, specialist contractors, interim managers etc.

Health and Safety Executive: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Health and Safety Executive's budget has been in each of the last five years.

Mims Davies: The table below shows what the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) budget has been in each of the last five years.  16/17 £M17/18 £M18/19 £M19/20 £M20/21 £M Government Funding133128126128168Income9193919577Annual Spending224221217223245 The increased government funding in 20/21 was mainly as a result of:o Establishing the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) in shadow form ahead of legislation, which has included creation of a new Building Safety and Construction Division.o Establishing new UK regulatory regimes, to ensure that HSE were fully prepared for the end of the EU transition period on 31 December 2020.o The impact on HSE’s activities as they have played a critical role in the supporting the government response to the COVID 19 pandemic. This necessary diversion of resources resulted in the reduction in cost recovery and commercial income, as well as additional government funding and spend on:establishing an inbound enquiry service to offer advice and guidance to both employers and employees;undertaking proactive spot checks and inspections, to ensure workplaces are COVID-secure;leading a COVID-19 national core study on the transmission of the virus in the environment, including in workplaces, transport and other public settings.

Betting Shops: Staff

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the potential effect of the gambling review on the employment of women in retail betting shops.

Mims Davies: The Secretary of State regularly meets with Cabinet colleagues to discuss a range of policy issues and topics.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animals (Recognition of Sentience) Bill

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Animal Sentience Committee announced in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill will be independent of Government.

Victoria Prentis: The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill creates an expert committee, the Animal Sentience Committee. The Animal Sentience Committee will have the power to scrutinise individual Ministerial policy formulation and implementation decisions. The Committee will set its own priorities and be supported by a secretariat. The Committee can publish reports on how Ministers have paid ‘all due regard’ to the welfare needs of animals as sentient beings, alongside other considerations. Ministers will need to respond to these reports within three months by means of a written statement to Parliament.

Pet Theft Task Force

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the Pet Theft Task Force to report their findings.

Victoria Prentis: The Government launched the Pet Theft Taskforce on 8 May 2021 and the taskforce expects to report its findings this summer. The taskforce’s terms of reference were published when it was launched and are available here:www.gov.uk/government/publications/pet-theft-taskforce-terms-of-reference. The terms of reference detail the background to the taskforce’s establishment as well as information on its objectives.

Dogs: Smuggling

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,  what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the post-rabies vaccination wait time from the three to 12 weeks before which a puppy can enter the UK, to further reduce puppy smuggling.

Victoria Prentis: The Government takes the issue of puppy smuggling and other illegal importations of pets very seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals and puts the health of pets and people in the United Kingdom at risk. On 12 May 2021 the Government published its Action Plan for Animal Welfare (APAW). This is a wide-reaching and ambitious plan to set out our current and future work on animal welfare and conservation. The Government has a manifesto commitment to crack down on puppy smuggling and one of our key reforms in the plan is to end the abhorrent, cruel practice of puppy smuggling and low-welfare pet imports. We are planning to bring in powers which enable us to that will allow us to prohibit the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs into Great Britain that have been subject to low welfare practices. This could include increasing the minimum age that dogs can be non-commercially moved or commercially imported into Great Britain.

Cats: Tagging

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he will publish the findings of the consultation on the compulsory microchipping of cats.

Victoria Prentis: The Consultation on Cat and Dog Microchipping and Scanning in England received over 33,000 responses. We are currently analysing these and will publish our findings later this year alongside our proposed actions.

Agriculture and Food

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) Government buying standards for food are in line with the UK’s targets for net zero emissions and (b) top-quality British farmers and producers can benefit from public sector contracts.

Victoria Prentis: The Government will always champion greater consumption of our excellent British food and drink, including from British farmers and local producers. The Government Buying Standards for Food (GBSF) encourages the procurement of UK seasonal and locally produced food. Defra is launching a public consultation this summer to review the GBSF. We want to enhance the GBSF in line with recent Government policy initiatives around promoting local produce, social value and environment and resource management. The consultation will seek views as to how public sector food procurement can assist the Government in achieving net zero carbon emissions. This will include proposals for procuring from more sustainable farming systems, as well as ensuring caterers use energy efficient equipment and move away from food waste management to waste reduction. We will also be seeking views on how the standards could be used to promote even greater uptake of locally produced food by public procurers and their suppliers. In addition, Defra is working closely with the Crown Commercial Service to develop the Future Food Framework in the South West region. The trial will create significant new opportunities for our farmers and local producers to supply regional public sector bodies.

Farmers: Finance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of farmer who will be eligible for the proposed lump sum exit scheme and delinked payments.

Victoria Prentis: We are consulting on our proposed lump sum exit scheme, including the eligibility criteria that will apply. The consultation runs until 11 August 2021. We think our proposed scheme will provide a helpful option for some farmers who wish to exit the industry. We are seeking views on likely uptake via our consultation. We intend to replace the Basic Payment Scheme with delinked payments in 2024. When payments are delinked, recipients won’t have to farm the land to receive the payments until they have been phased out by the end of 2027. Eligibility for delinked payments will be based on a reference period. Our consultation seeks views on what this reference period should be. Our consultation can be found here: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agricultural-policy/lump-sum-and-delinked-payments-england/.

Farmers: Finance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost of the proposed lump sum exit scheme and delinked payments for farmers.

Victoria Prentis: We know that some farmers who wish to retire or leave the industry can find it difficult to do so and lack of finance can be one of the barriers to exit. We think that a lump sum exit scheme could help such farmers leave the industry in a planned way. By freeing up land, the scheme will also open up opportunities for new entrants and expanding farmers.We believe that the proposed lump sum exit scheme will offer good value for the taxpayer. The lump sum will be in place of the Direct Payments farmers could otherwise have received between 2022 to 2027, as we transition to our new farming system outside the Common Agricultural Policy.This means that the scheme will not increase overall spending on farming. It will not affect the money available for other schemes.To ensure value for money for the taxpayer, we have proposed a payment cap that will make sure farmers do not receive a lump sum which is higher in value than the amount they could have otherwise received in Direct Payments for 2022 to 2027.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet: Ministry of Defence

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to allow the Veterans Minister to attend Cabinet.

Michael Gove: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State for Defence represent veterans in Cabinet, ensuring their interests are included in any relevant policy discussions. Attendance at Cabinet is the prerogative of the Prime Minister.

Question

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions the Government has had with its EU counterparts on trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Penny Mordaunt: Lord Frost met Vice President Šefčovič in Brussels on 15 April. He has been in regular contact with the Vice President since then and his team maintains engagement at all levels with the Commission through the Withdrawal Agreement structures.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Caribbean

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps her Department has taken to help increase the quantity of trade between the UK and the CARIFORUM trade bloc.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Trade with CARIFORUM states was worth £2.6bn in 2020. The United Kingdom-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) successfully came into effect on 1st January 2021 and provides certainty and continuity for business. The tenth United Kingdom-Caribbean Ministerial Forum took place in March, where we agreed to further promoting and expanding bilateral trade flows and reducing market access barriers for exporters.

Overseas Trade: Chile

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps her Department has taken to help increase the quantity of trade between the UK and Chile.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Trade between the United Kingdom and Chile was worth £1.4bn in 2020. Last year, my Department successfully negotiated and brought into force the United Kingdom-Chile Association Agreement that maintains preferential trading conditions, providing certainty for businesses. Chile is also a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and is supportive of the United Kingdom’s planned accession. In October 2020, I co-chaired the inaugural Anglo-Chilean dialogue where we agreed to work together to boost trade in important sectors such as Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Infrastructure.

Overseas Trade: Oman

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the bilateral trade agreement with Oman.

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with Qatar.

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with Bahrain.

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Britain has strong bilateral trading relationships with our friends in the Gulf and a clear ambition to deepen them. The Gulf is already one of our largest export destinations, with trade of over £30 billion in 2020, but there are many sectors in which we can collaborate further. We are currently conducting a Joint Trade and Investment Review with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Upon completion of the review shortly, we will look to deliver on its recommendations, as we continue to broaden and deepen our trade and investment relationships with countries in the Gulf.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Advertising

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with broadcasters on suspending betting adverts during the European Championships to protect people at risk of gambling-related harm.

Mr John Whittingdale: Broadcasters have discretion over how advertising breaks are set and what adverts are broadcast, in line with Ofcom and ASA standards. However, the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising prohibits most gambling adverts from being shown before 9pm, including a whistle-to-whistle ban for live sporting events.All gambling adverts, wherever they appear, are subject to strict controls on content and placement, and gambling adverts must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people. The Advertising Standards Authority independently administers these standards through the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) which covers online and non-broadcast spaces and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) for TV.

Women and Equalities

Gay Conversion Therapy: Victoria

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Australian State of Victoria’s Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 as a model for legislation to ban conversion therapy in England and Wales.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to publish the findings of her Department's research into conversion practices in the UK that was conducted in 2020.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she will take to consult (a) survivors of conversion therapy and (b) organisations who support those who have been subjected to conversion therapy as part of any consultation on banning conversion practices.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of Australia's Victoria State Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 as a model of best practice for banning conversion therapy.

Kemi Badenoch: As set out in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month, we will bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy. We will also launch a consultation before details of the ban are finalised to hear from a wide range of voices on how best to protect people from conversion therapy while protecting the medical profession, defending freedom of speech, and upholding religious freedom. We are considering all options for the scope of a ban and will be engaging the appropriate stakeholders, including organisations who support survivors of conversion therapy, to gather views. We have also already met with conversion therapy survivors, to hear about their experiences.We have also undertaken research to understand practices, experiences and impacts associated with conversion therapy and will publish this in due course. Officials are also in discussion with international policy counterparts, to fully understand the detail and impact of other jurisdictions’ measures, in order to inform the UK’s next steps.

Gay Conversion Therapy

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the announcement in the Queen's Speech that the Government plans to introduce a Bill to ban conversion therapy, when that draft Bill will be published; and when the consultation on that draft Bill will open.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to publish the findings of her Department's research into conversion therapy practices in the UK.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make it her policy that there should be no exemption for religious practices when the draft Bill to ban conversion therapy is introduced.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what weighting her Department plans to give to responses from (a) survivors of conversion therapy and (b) organisations that support those survivors to the consultation on draft legislation to ban conversion therapy.

Kemi Badenoch: As set out in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month, we will bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy. We will also launch a consultation before details of the ban are finalised to hear from a wide range of voices on how best to protect people from conversion therapy while protecting the medical profession, defending freedom of speech and upholding religious freedom. We are considering all options for the scope of a ban and will be engaging the appropriate stakeholders to gather views. We will ensure the action we take to stop this practice is proportionate and effective, with no unintended consequences. We have also undertaken research to understand practices, experiences and impacts associated with conversion therapy and will publish this in due course.